One Big Conspiracy
by LetYourStoriesOut
Summary: Kendrick Phoenix is looking for Elias when he begins to find clues leading to a conspiracy. As he finds out more and meets faces from his past, is Elias the one he should be looking for? Sonic sequel to The Despicable Hedgehog. Reviews would be appreciated, but NO FLAMES.
1. Abandoned in the Forest

AN: As the Sonic characters I like to write for are from the pre-reboot comics, there will be references to issues of the comic shown by this * symbol. Since this is a Sonic sequel to the Despicable Me crossover, I feel no need to give the characters a big introduction. So, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy.

* * *

1 week after the humans were sent home after some strange events, Kendrick Phoenix had left the country to hunt the rogue prince Elias. As he entered the Feral Forest, he slowed down and walked cautiously through the forest so he wouldn't antagonise any inhabitants. He stopped in his tracks and used a walkie talkie to speak to Knothole, hoping to hear Sally on the other end.

"Sally, come in." Kendrick said.

" _Sally, here._ " Sally answered.

"I've followed your brother to Feral Forest, but there seems to be no sign of any Mobians here." Kendrick spoke too soon, since he could hear a baby crying. "Scratch that, there's a child crying. I'm going to investigate."

" _Take care._ " Sally said before cutting off the signal.

Kendrick started rotating his ears to find the direction of the crying. He got the strongest sound from around 45 degrees to his left and proceeded in the direction, still moving slowly due to not knowing what was awaiting him. As he walked further, the cries started to get louder and sometimes even turned into shrieks. Kendrick could soon see a small hut and walked a bit quicker, still taking caution to avoid alerting anyone to his presence. When he finally reached the hut, he noticed an open door. He slowly opened it and the inside was dark. He decided to call out.

"Hello?" He said, in a calm way. Seeing pure darkness, he pulled out a torch from his backpack and switched it on. The first thing he saw was a cot. He looked into the cot and saw a baby squirrel who he recognised as Elias' stepdaughter. "Alexis? What are you doing out here on your own?" Kendrick pick Alexis up and comforted her. "Ssshhh. You'll be safe with me. I just wish I knew where your mother was. Let's get you to your aunt." Kendrick used his walkie talkie again. "Sally, good new and bad news. Good news: I've found your niece. Bad news: Megan's nowhere to be found."

" _Alexis_ _? Can you bring her home?_ "

"Unfortunately not. But there's a village nearby where, if I'm not mistaken, Megan grew up with her father. I could take Alexis there and wait for someone to arrive from home and pick her up."

" _Okay. We know the place, we can send someone who gets on with Megan to pick up Alexis. Be careful, Kendrick. The villagers may not be friendly. However, for all we know Megan might just be there anyway._ "

Kendrick switched the walkie-talkie off, put Alexis back in the cot so he could look for supplies for her. He searched some drawers for clothes and diapers, of which he found 5 outfits with shoes for Alexis and a full pack of diapers. He then looked under the bed to see if he could find any clue as to where Megan could have gone. He found a damaged photo of Elias, Megan and Alexis that had blood on it. Kendrick immediately called Sally.

" _Sally is not available at the moment._ " A female voice said. " _Can I help you, Kendrick?_ " The hedgehog recognised the voice.

"Nicole, is there anyone available who has experience in crime solving?"

" _I'm afraid not. Is something wrong?_ "

"Elias and Megan's hut in Feral Forest. There appears to have been an attack. I've found a family photo that's broken and scratched with blood on it. It's of Elias, Megan, Alexis, Sally, King Max and Queen Alicia. Everyone's face has been crossed out except for Alexis. Could have been a vendetta attack."

" _Swab a sample of the blood and use the test tube you were given to_ s _end it over. It will create a digital copy of it and determine who it belongs to._ "

Kendrick got said test tube and a cotton bud stick out of his bag, swabbed the blood and placed the cotton bud in the tube.

"It's a good thing I'm wearing rubber gloves. And how does this test tube send a digital copy of the DNA to your computer?!" Kendrick said while Alexis started crying.

" _Is that Princess Sally's niece? Who would attack Megan and abandon an innocent baby?_ "

"Maybe this blood sample will tell us. I'll need to get Alexis out of here soon as you've identified the blood sample, Nicole." Kendrick picked Alexis up and started rocking her slowly in his arms. He waited for 15 minutes and yet still no update from Nicole. Alexis was getting cold. Kendrick made the decision to take Alexis to the village. "Nicole, Alexis can't wait any longer, she's freezing. I'm gonna pack things she needs and take her to the village round here somewhere. When you can, tell me the identity of who our blood sample belongs to."

" _Be careful._ "

Kendrick did what he said he would do. He grabbed clothes, diapers, food bowls, spoons, milk bottles and any other supplies Alexis would need and packed them into his bag. He then grabbed a blanket from Alexis' cot and wrapped her in it to try and keep her warm. Noticing a teddy of Sonic on the bed, Kendrick picked it up in case Alexis just wanted to play and looked at a picture of Megan that was on the table. "I'll take care of Alexis until you return to Knothole. I promise." Kendrick then left the hut, closing the door behind him. He then proceeded deeper into the forest to try and find the village. He walked hopelessly for about 20 minutes before stopping as he heard a bush rattle. Turning his ears to find the sound directly. He could hear some mumbling and then a gun being loaded. "Oi! I've got a baby here! I'm trying to find her mother!"

A male voice then spoke from thin air. "You're trespassing on our grounds. Remain where you are and allow me to search you."

"I'm looking for a former villager from Feral Forest. Her name is Megan Acorn. I am currently trying to keep her daughter safe from harm."

"Megan?" The voice said. "Please, pardon my rash decision making." A Mobian squirrel appeared from the shadows. "I never knew she had close friends like that in Knothole or New Mobotropolis. I'm Joss, Megan's father."

"Kendrick Phoenix. I'm on an assignment to find Elias Acorn and take him back to Knothole. Before I say anymore, can we please take Alexis to a warm place?"

"Sure, kid. We'll take you back to our village." With that, Kendrick and Joss journeyed to the village...

* * *

In New Mobotropolis, Nicole was searching her databanks to find a match for the blood sample Kendrick sent her. After 4 hours of searching, she finally found a match. She was surprised with the result.

"Now then. What were **you** doing all the way up near Feral Forest? Last time you were there, you were looking for the same person Kendrick's looking for now.*"

(*Sonic the Hedgehog #1xx- Work that out!)


	2. Reuniting Mother and Daughter

AN: Joss is **not** an OC. He existed in the Archie Comics before the reboot as Megan Acorn's father. One more note is that Kendrick is disguised in his blue fur form, so people who never saw his green form can still recognise him. That's it, on to the story.

* * *

After their journey, Kendrick and Joss had arrived at the village that Kendrick was looking for. It was quiet and peaceful since most villagers were probably preparing to rest for the night. As they approached the main houses, a male guard and a female guard were waiting and halted them.

"It's Joss." Joss said. He was about to introduce Kendrick when the hedgehog intervened and mouthed 'I'll handle this.'.

"I am Kendrick Phoenix from the Kingdom of Acorn. I am on an assignment to find Prince Elias Acorn. On my assignment, I have in my arms, Alexis Acorn, who - if Joss is who he says he is- is Joss's granddaughter. Before I find Elias, I want to find Megan Acorn and give her daughter back to her."

"Megan Acorn was found and brought here 4 hours ago." The female guard said. "While you were searching for her in the forest. We couldn't get in contact with you so we brought her back here. She's still here, asking about her daughter and husband."

"You must allow both of us in at once!" Joss said sharply. The guards stepped aside and let Joss and Kendrick into the village. There were houses that looked more like bomb shelters than actual houses. The exteriors were doors sticking out of hills. Kendrick was surprised by the appearance of theses houses. As he was looking for Megan, Alexis woke up from her sleep. Luckily, she was calm enough not to cry. As Kendrick searched the village, he realised that he and Joss had separated. He started asking villagers about Megan. Eventually, it was night and Kendrick turned around to take Alexis back to Joss when he turned and saw in the distance...

Megan. She was speaking to Joss, so Kendrick walked over calmly. As he got closer he could hear Joss and Megan's conversation.

"There's a light blue hedgehog trying to find you." Joss said. "He has Alexis and he's been trying to find you."

"Sonic?" Megan asked.

"No, he said his name was Kendrick. Look, there he is now." Joss pointed and Megan looked to see Kendrick walking towards her. He finally reached her.

"Kendrick?" Megan was surprised to see him.

"Hello, Megan." Kendrick answered. "Your daughter's just woke up." Megan held out her arms so Kendrick could give her Alexis. As he was handing the baby over to her mother, he said "I don't need to tell you how to hold her, she's your daughter." As soon as Megan had hold of Alexis, Kendrick put his bag on the ground and took out Alexis' supplies he got from the hut. "When you're ready, I need to ask you what happened at the place I got these from."

"We can do that now."

"Okay... What happened when you were there?"

"I was putting Alexis to sleep when I heard a knock on the door. Only Elias knew where I was, so I thought it was him. I thought wrong. I turned the handle and the door got shoved open quick enough to knock me to the floor. It was Elias, he was wearing the clothes he wore while he was king. Didn't sound like him though. I tried to fight back by whacking them with a picture frame."

"That explains the blood I found. Was Elias alone?"

"Yes. I don't believe it was him though. Elias has never attacked me, not even if he had a good reason to. It's not how he does things."

"Elias attacked Scourge the Hedgehog and even knocked Sally out.* He **never** attacks or even argues with Sally cos he knows he'll lose."

(*The Despicable Hedgehog Chapter 15)

* * *

As Kendrick was questioning Megan in Feral Forest, Nicole was talking to Sally in New Mobotropolis.

"Can you believe this?" Sally asked. "The Hedgehog family get together to have some dinner - Fiona Fox included, of course - then Sonic and Manic start fighting over Kendrick and Fiona! Sonic was supporting her, as were Sonia and Bernadette. Manic was gunning for all of them, he lost the argument and slammed the door on the way out, which of course woke up Maurice and Mira.* That guy's inconsiderate. He's just like Hamlin!"

(*Maurice and Mira are Kendrick and Fiona's twin children.)

"I can understand Manic not trusting Fiona after she betrayed the Freedom Fighters.**" Nicole said. "But she never did any harm to him, she was Sonic's girlfriend at the time. Sonic didn't even know that Manic existed back then!"

(**Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 172)

"Anyway, you said Kendrick sent a blood sample from Feral Forest?"

"Yes, he sent it over after finding Elias and Megan's hut. It was from a family photo of your parents, you, Elias, Megan and Alexis. Everyone had a cross through them except Alexis. But still, check out who's our donor. Seems Kendrick was right, this was a vendetta attack."

Nicole gave Sally the results from the blood analysis, like Nicole she was surprised but before she could say anything, Kendrick called in.

"Nicole, are you there?"

"Yes, and Sally's here too."

"Great. I've found Megan in the village and I have two things to say, 1. Can we get someone to take her and Alexis back to New Mobotropolis?"

"I can ask my dad." Sally answered. "His condition isn't as bad as it used to be so he'll care about his granddaughter. Since he's king again, he will ask someone that he and Megan trust to bring them back. I'll make him if I have to, but he'll do it anyway."

"Thanks, and second of all, Megan says that Elias attacked her and she used the photo frame to fight back. If that is true, the blood would belong to Elias, right?"

"Right, but the problem is: the blood doesn't belong to Elias."

"What? Megan thought it wasn't Elias, and frankly I agree with her, but who would hate the prince so badly that they would try and frame him or assaulting his family?"

"How about the person who used to be a royal agent before he blamed the Acorns for his wife's death and helped steal the crown and throne?"

"No!"

"Yep. The blood belongs to our good old friend, Geoffrey St. John."

* * *

AN: Well, well, well. What are you up to, Geoffrey? Before we can find out, Kendrick has to talk to some people from his past, before fighting some more people from his past… Stay tuned for that.


	3. Old Friends, Old Enemies

Castle of Acorn, New Mobotropolis, 4 AM

In the royal throne room, Sally was asking her father to let someone go to Feral Forest and bring Megan and Alexis home.

"...So you see?" Sally asked. "Megan and Alexis are in the Feral Forest. Megan was assaulted and Alexis abandoned, though Kendrick soon reunited them. Now, Megan would like someone she can trust, but also someone you trust, to bring them home so that Kendrick can find Elias. He didn't want to leave."

King Max thought for about 20 seconds. "I'm thinking Generals Prower and D'Coolette could go. My daughter-in-law and granddaughter are two of the most important people in my life and I'm not sending anyone alone."

"Okay, I'll contact Kendrick." Sally went to walk out of the room when she turned around back to her father. "It's good to see you back to your friendly self, father."

"It's good to be back, Sally. Even if I still can't walk. And please, don't feel afraid to call me dad."

Sally smiled and waved goodbye as she walked towards the castle doors to leave. When she got outside, she saw the sun rising over the lake. Though she then realised she forgot to tell Max about the blood Kendrick found. But she thought for a second, if she tells him, it could lead to problems. She decided to just walk around the city and look at all the positives currently in her life.

* * *

Outside Feral Forest, 10 AM

Kendrick was waiting for Megan's transport to arrive outside of the forest. Megan could tell Kendrick was anxious.

"You know you can go if you want." Megan spoke.

"I made a promise to King Max to keep the two of you safe until you return to New Mobotropolis," Kendrick responded. "So that's what I'm going to do."

As they waited for the plane, Kendrick's walkie talkie went off.

" _Bonjour, Monsieur Kendreeck._ " A French male voice emitted. "Antione D'Coolette here! _General Prower and I weel be arriving at zhe forest in 5 minutez._ "

Kendrick picked up his walkie talkie. "Copy that." Kendrick looked in the sky to see a jet coming in. "That must be it."

The jet was coming in fast and Kendrick had to run towards Megan so the jet's propellers didn't dice him up. The jet landed safely, but loudly. Upon stopping, the door to the jet opened and there was Amadeus Prower, Tails' father. He walked down, followed by Antoine. "Good Morning, Mr Phoenix, Mrs Acorn." Amadeus said. "We are here to return you to New Mobotropolis. Well, Mrs Acorn actually. Ready to go, Madam?"

"Yes, General." Megan answered. She walked up the stairs onto the jet while Amadeus and Antoine grabbed her luggage and took it onto the jet. With everyone who needed to be on the jet boarded, the pilot readied the aircraft, drove down the area and took off into the air again. Kendrick just waved at the jet, not knowing or caring if the passengers could see him. Right now, he had to find Elias. Just at that moment, Kendrick got a radio call-in.

"Hello?"

 _"You're making a big mistake coming after me, Phoenix."_

"Elias. Why do this? Why would you go rogue?"

 _"My father. He thinks he can just swipe the throne back now he's 'in decent health'."_

"Daddy issues? I solved mine, try and solve yours. Plus, you didn't want the throne when offered, why accept it"

 _"You know my father. He won't listen even in his perfectly healthy state. This is the reason I ran off to Feral Forest in the very first place*!"_

(*That's not the way STH #102 tells it!)

"Okay. But I have heard two stories involving an attack on Megan. 1. Megan said you attacked her and abandoned Alexis. 2. The evidence gives the same idea but with Geoffrey St. John as the attacker."

 _"You get to believe whichever one you want. Come find me, I'm in the South Baronies."_ The call-in ended.

Kendrick was worried about what he was just told. He had a lot of bad memories in the South Baronies. However, it is where he was raised for his first 12 years by Beauregard Rabbot. He also had a band there, known as The Phoenix Felix. The last time he was in the South Baronies was when Sonic went to look for Bunnie. That was 2 years ago and he didn't even stay for a day. The day he left and never looked back was 10 years ago. He didn't even know if he was allowed to go back since a Sand Blaster leaving for over a month resulted in them being marked as a traitor. Kendrick decided to take the risk. He ran nearly as fast as Sonic for about 5 minutes before reaching the desert city. He stood a distance from sight of the guards at the entrance, then slowly walked towards the guards. They didn't react to him until he stopped in front of them.

"Only the Baron decides who get in to our cit-" The guards then realised who they were talking to. "AAH! Master Kendrick! I-mean! Go on in!" The guards stood aside and opened the entrance as quickly as they could. Kendrick walked into the city, surprised that the guards didn't kill him. He walked around to find the Baron. There were houses, tents and huts everywhere, but Kendrick knew exactly where to go to find the Baron. As he walked round, citizens were looking at him and chatting things like 'Is that Kendrick?' and 'What's he doing back?'. Kendrick walked into a large building. The Baron was right in front of him, facing away from him.

"Do you need to see me right away?" The Baron said.

"Not really." Kendrick answered. "I just thought you knew were The Phoenixes were, Beauregard."

As Beauregard turned around, he said "How'd ya'll know mah na-?" but stopped when he saw who he was talking to.

"Hi, Dad!* Long time, no see!"

(*The confusion about Kendrick's father will be cleared up in Phoenix Origins, coming soon!)

Beauregard walked over to hug his son. "I can't believe you're back."

"Well, I'm here on an assignment from the Kingdom of Acorn. Prince Elias appears to have gone AWOL. I need to speak to the Phoenix Felix. Are they around?"

"They're right through that door, speaking with Vector of the Chaotix. Go on in."

Kendrick nodded and walked through said doors. In the room was a huge table with about 10 seats around it. The room was dark with the only light being shone from the ceiling onto the table. Around the table were 6 Mobians: one orange hedgehog, one purple echidna, two crocodiles, one black armadillo with a yellow shell and one white chameleon. One of the crocodiles was Vector from the detective agency known as the Chaotix. The other was Dave Mercy, but he preferred to be called Mercury. He was a bit taller than Vector, but had a mouth at half the length of Vector's. Mercury, just like the rest of the Mobians other than Vector, was part of a successful band called The Phoenix Felix. The Mobians at the table were discussing something.

"Okay." Vector said. "You guys know what the Chaotix do. Romerus?"

"I know what the Chaotix do." Romerus the Hedgehog answered. "As a group, they solve crimes. But I also know what you can do best on your own."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Romerus responded, trying not to laugh. "The thing you do best, Vector, is find the computer room!" Romerus answered, mocking Vector's voice. The Mobians other than Vector started laughing. "I'm sorry, but if Vector the Crocodile's asking you what he does best, you HAVE to answer with 'Find the computer room'. You just have to!"

"That's more like it, Romerus." Kendrick said. "You don't call someone pops when they're younger than you." Kendrick walked into the light. "But teasing Vector over that line is funny."

"Kendrick!" The chameleon shouted.

"Hello, Lamar." Kendrick then looked at the echidna, armadillo and crocodiles. "Otto, Simon, Dave."

"Kendrick." Otto the Echidna, Simon the Armadillo and Mercury said in union.

"What are you doing back?" Romerus asked Kendrick.

"I'm looking for Elias Acorn." Kendrick answered. "Since his father is now king again, he's gone rogue." Right at that moment, the light shining on the table overloaded and blew up to envelop the seven Mobians in darkness.

"Who forgot to pay the bill?"

"I don't think this is a power outage. This seems more like a sneak attack from one of my former friends." Suddenly, Kendrick could hear electric sounds. When the lights came on again, he saw everyone had been knocked out.

"We were never friends, Phoenix." A male voice spoke, giving away his location to Kendrick. The sky blue hedgehog turned around and look to see an upper balcony going around the whole room with a member of Scourge the Hedgehog's Destructix.

"Lightning Lynx. Looks like you've been busy. Still chasing the Bride of the Conquering Storm?"

"That girl was never worth my time. She deserved more than what she got."

"Why are you here anyway?"

"You don't know? You've got a bounty on your head. To claim it, I'm going to kill you. Then, with my new electric powers, I'm going to restart your heart and KILL YOU AGAIN!"

"Less chit-chat, more combat." Kendrick curled up into a ball to perform a spin dash on Lightning. When he shot towards the lynx, Lightning managed to catch him, electrocute him and throw him back onto the table. Kendrick was stunned by the shock from Lightning and the impact of colliding with the table. He decided to run up the wall, land on the balcony and fight Lightning hand-to-hand. He ran and succeeded in landing on the balcony. Lightning swung an electrified right hook towards Kendrick. He dodged the attack and countered with a jump kick to Lightning's stomach, sending him over the balcony and into the ground and unconsciousness. "How weak." Kendrick jumped down as his friends started to wake up. Romerus woke up almost instantly and saw Lightning on the floor.

"So this is a former friend of yours?" The orange hedgehog asked Kendrick. "He doesn't look like much."

"Took him down in one hit. Noah and Spencer's training works. You got something to keep him restrained?" Romerus pulled out a rope and tied Lightning's hands together behind his back. Kendrick looked at Lightning's gloves and slipped them off his hands and put them on himself. "These must be what gave him his powers. Thank you, Lightning." Inside the left glove was a data chip. At that moment more lights came on in the room to show a huge computer terminal and screen. Kendrick walked over while the rest of the group saw to Lightning. Kendrick walked over to the terminal and placed the chip in the computer. The screen started up and showed some files. One of them was a video file of Elias handing out folders to Mobians.

 _"See to it all ten get a file each. 100 Million."_

The video stopped. Kendrick was browsing the files when Beauregard walked over.

"I heard ya had a bounty on your head." Beauregard said. "Now we know tha amount and how many hunters there are." Kendrick clicked on a file.

"And who the bounty hunters are. There's two groups: The Destructix with four - sorry - three members since Lightning Lynx is out of the competition. There's Predator Hawk, Flying Frog and Sgt. Simian. I've got history with all of them back in my treasonous years. The next group I have heard about but only Sonic and Tails encountered them*. According to this database, they're not even Mobians. The Deadly Six, a group of Zeti that trust no one."

(*Sonic Lost World - The Game)

"They ain't gonna get that bounty if they can't rely on sources for your whereabouts. Then again, they ain't gonna kill you full stop."

"They definitely don't live up to their name. Their species have the power to control machinery but they can be defeated with an object known as the Cacophonic Conch. The Destructix are smarter and with little weakness. Last time I fought them, I ended up revealing their flaws. Lightning simply thought some electric gloves would kill me. The others will fix their flaws to the point where I am outmatched by all three together. The final fact about them is they trust each other and will not attack me one by one and that makes them even more dangerous. I'll send this data to Sally in Knothole. Her father may be able to stop the bounty if Elias hasn't took the money already. I need to find Elias and put a stop to this."

"Be careful, son. If he is in the South Baronies, we'll find him."

Kendrick turned around and walked to Lightning, who was now tied to one of the chairs and conscious.

"Elias told me to find him in the South Baronies. Where exactly can I find him?"

Lightning struggled to escape his bindings. "How the hell should I know?"

Kendrick kneeled down to the same level as Lightning. "I will make you talk. It's up to you how many broken bones you get before that."

Lightning took drastic measures... He spat in Kendrick's face. "Go to Hell!"

Romerus walked round to face Lightning. "Well, that wasn't very nice." Angry at Lightning, Romerus punched him in the face so hard, he broke Lightning's nose.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Elias is not in the South Baronies, he's planning to rob his father's treasury in New Mobotropolis!"

"Thanks." Kendrick wiped his face. "Now you can take a nap." Kendrick karate chopped at the side of Lightning's neck, knocking the lynx out.

"I take it that means you're going back." Romerus asked.

"I have to." Kendrick answered. "If Elias is planning to rob his father, I need to help Sonic stop him. The Destructix may be with him, and there's only one person they're truly loyal to. Scourge the Hedgehog."


End file.
